


i have loved the stars too fondly (to be fearful of the night)

by breakfasttako



Series: NaNoWriMo 2018: Klaroline drabbles [3]
Category: The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angsty in the beginning, F/M, Star Keeper Caroline, Windrider Klaus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-08-17 12:12:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16516265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/breakfasttako/pseuds/breakfasttako
Summary: Caroline lives her life in metaphorical chains, will Klaus be the breaker of them?





	i have loved the stars too fondly (to be fearful of the night)

**Author's Note:**

> Story notes: This my attempt at building a fantasy au. Caroline is a star keeper, and Klaus is a windrider. In other words, she has conversations with stars, and he is a sky pirate.

“Take her Bill, go!” her mommy shouted. “Go!” she shouted once more when her daddy didn’t move.

 

“I’m not leaving you Liz,” Bill cupped his wife’s face in his hands.

 

Mommy was crying and shouting, and all four year old Caroline knew was there were some bad people coming.

 

“If they find her, they will take her and they will sell her. She will be nothing but a plaything for men looking to buy answers no one should have.” Liz placed her hands over Bill’s still on her face. “Take her, protect her. I’ll keep them distracted.”

 

“We don’t know she inherited your gifts, Liz.” Her father argued pressing his forehead to her mother’s.

 

Liz choked on a sob, “They spoke to her for the first time last night.”

 

“How can you be sure?” he asked pulling back to look into his wife’s eyes.

 

Pulling away from her husband, Liz picked up her daughter, “Caroline baby, tell daddy what you told me about the sky last night.”

 

“I-” the little girl sniffled with tears in her eyes, “I don’t want to Mommy.”

 

“Please, baby,” Liz combed her hand through Caroline’s hair. “Daddy needs to know, it’s very important.”

 

“The,” Caroline paused looking to her mother once more, who nodded in assurance. “The littlest star was crying. His brother is falling.”

 

Her mother put her down, “Caroline, go play in your room please.”

 

“But-” Caroline sniffled once more.

 

“Now Caroline!” her mom raised her voice. The little blonde obeyed. “You see Bill, her star has already chosen her and at such a young age. The other stars will start to warm to her soon,” Liz cried. “I have only one way to protect her, and in order for her to be safe I can’t stay with her.”

 

“Liz-”

 

“I’ll draw them to me, but I need you to go,” Liz kissed her husband.

 

Bill grabbed her shoulders as she tried to turn, “Liz, what do you plan to do?”

 

“I’ll draw the council to me, and when they are trapped I’ll draw the falling star to me.” Silent tears slipped down her cheeks, “They won’t stand a chance.”

 

“Liz, no,” he protested.

 

“William, it is the only way to protect our precious Caroline.”

 

The couple embraced and Liz let loose more tears and sobs. “Make sure Caroline knows how much I love her.”

 

“I know you love me Mommy,” Caroline startled her parents from their goodbye.

 

Liz dropped to her knees, “Caroline, baby. I need you to go with Daddy. You two are going to go far, far away.”

 

“But what about you?” Caroline’s lip wobbled.

 

“Mommy’s going away to, but not to the same place as you,” Liz drew her daughter into her arms. “If we stayed together those bad, bad men would get you.”

 

“Mommy-”

 

“Mommy _loves_ you. I would do anything for you.”

 

“I love you too!” Caroline howled over her sobs.

 

“You be a good girl and listen to your daddy.” Liz instructed, Caroline still wrapped in her arms.

 

“Yes ma’am,” the little girl’s voice shook against her mother’s shoulder.

 

Caroline was looking out the window of the carriage with silent tears rolling down her face, the occasional sob heaving her little body, when a bright flash of brilliant light filled the sky.

 

************************************

 

The ship sailed high, cutting through the clouds littering the night sky. _Moonstone_ reflected the starlight against her polished wood. The giant masts sailing at full speed. Klaus smiled, there was nothing like sailing the winds on a cloudy night, watching the bow of his ship cut through the mackerel sky.

 

“We make water in 6,300 meters,” his first mate and brother, Elijah, called out to the crew. He turned to Klaus. “Kol and Rebekah have already established themselves in town.”

 

“Good,” Klaus nodded. “Have they started mapping out the points of entry and the army’s routine?”

 

“Kol has been his usual creative self finding abandoned tunnels that lead from the beach caves into the heart of the town, and Rebekah has been integrating herself into the high society circles to find the best places to loot and _entertaining_ officers to find out their schedules.” Elijah informed him.

 

Klaus rolled his eyes at his brother’s tone, they would take care of any of Rebekah’s suitors or paramours in due time. No need to huff about it.

 

He stood behind the wheel, piloting the ship down into a steady sea landing.

 

************************************

 

Caroline sat rigidly at the dining table as the footmen served the first course. She’d been living under Alaric Saltzman charge for a year. An old school mate, her father had foolishly trusted with her secret. They’d been on the run for more than a decade before finding shelter with Alaric. Shortly after they arrived, he father had been “mugged” on his way home, and died of injuries he sustained. The barron had shown his “virtuous” nature by taking her in as his ward. Now, Caroline was touted out for parties and shown off around town as some pretty trinket of the Saltzman family collectables. Although, Alaric was not so trusting as her father to confide in anyone exactly what he had collected.

 

His wife Isobel and her daughter from a previous marriage, Elena, chatted merrily with their new neighbors and dinner guests. The Mikaelson siblings were a peculiar pair. They had arrived a month prior to claim an inheritance left to them by a distant uncle, a manor on the outskirts of town.

 

“You two must get so lonely out there on your lonesome. I was so pleased when Alaric agreed to move to our town house from the country estate,” Isobel was telling them.

 

“Our older brothers will be joining us,” Rebekah waved away her concern, “When you have as many siblings as we do, a little quiet can be a nice change.”

 

“It must be nice though,” Elena smiled sweetly. “I always wished I had built in friends like that. It’s why I was so happy when Caroline came to live with us.”

 

Caroline smiled back at Elena. She was the only person in the house who showed any kindness to Caroline despite living in willful ignorance of the kind of man her stepfather really was.

 

At the end of the table, Kol snorted, “More like built in antagonists.”

 

“Maybe if I had sisters,” Rebekah shrugged, “Having three older brothers is more like having unruly children trying to control my life.”

 

Alaric cleared his throat, “I’m sure your brothers only wish to protect you. A pretty, young lady such as yourself shouldn’t be wandering the streets alone. Some may try to take advantage.” He said in reference to the multiple times Rebekah had been seen doing so around town.

 

“I pray not,” Rebekah simpered.

 

The gleam in her eyes told Caroline it wasn’t Rebekah who would need the prayers if anyone tried to cross her.

 

************************************

 

Klaus walked the town, following the map Kol had created leading from their manor through the town, each and everyone the houses and shops they would pillage painstakingly noted, toward the entrance to the the tunnels. He silently moved through the night double checking every notation Kol had made. Crossing the last home on the map, Klaus stopped short when he heard dulcet tones singing. He kept to the shadows as he looked for the source.

 

Around the back of the house he had been stalking, a beautiful blonde in a nightgown was smiling up at the sky, crooning about perseverance. Beguiled, he listened intently, watched as she swayed along to the song she sang. As she was finishing up her song, Klaus stepped out of hiding.

 

Applauding, he called out to her, “Bravo.”

 

Her eyes doubled in size when she startled, all but jumping out of her skin.

 

“You have a charming voice, _Cher_ ,” he noted.

 

“What are you doing out this late?” the girl demanded.

 

“I could ask you the same,” he laughed, eying her up and down in her thin gown.

 

She blushed, pulling her open robe closed, and tying it tightly. “I live here,” she told him indignantly.

 

“Don’t get your feathers ruffled, songbird,” he teased. “I mean you no harm.”

 

She gave him a suspicious look, but didn’t run away or rebuke his presence any further. After a few moments, her apprehensive demeanor settled and her posture relaxed.

 

“What are your intentions then?” she needled him, “If not to harm?”

 

“Well,” he grinned, “first, I seek the name of the siren who beckoned me to her doorstep.”

 

“Siren? I’m not sure how I should take being compared to a creature with claws, legs of birds, and haggard wings,” she harrumphed.

 

“Sirens are hardly so wicked, but alas, men are prideful and weak and demonize women who would make them their willing subjects,” he argued.

 

Her lips parted into the most dazzling smile he had ever witnessed.

 

“My name is Caroline.”

 

************************************

 

Caroline’s mind drifted back to the man she had met the night before as the father droned on. The stars had rattled when he interrupted her singing. A _windrider_ her little star had whispered. Chaos incarnate. The kind of man who burned the world on a whim and danced in the flames.

 

_“They call me Klaus,” his smile was all sin._

 

He was one of the Mikaelson siblings, whatever they were here for it most assuredly wasn’t an inheritance. All four of them were seated together in the front of the pew, much to Lady Lockwood’s consternation. They did an admirable job ignoring Carol’s glares and tuts when she had walked in and found them in her usual seat.

 

As if he could hear her thoughts, Klaus turned around as the priest prepared the host, and winked. Caroline suppressed a smile and sent him a chastising look. He turned back around, and Caroline made sure Lady Saltzman and Elena hadn’t noticed the inappropriate gesture. Lady Saltzman was quietly whispering with Dame Sheila Bennett, the town healer and resident witch, and Elena was dozing.

 

After the service, Klaus approached her at the perish lunchin. Elena had gone to sneak off with her secret boyfriend in the sacristy. And for reasons unknown, Bonnie Bennett hadn’t attended church today. With her only friends otherwise busy, Caroline was seated a table alone while Isobel made her rounds.

 

“Hello, Caroline,” he dimpled down at her where she sat.

 

“Sir Mikaelson,” she returned cooly.

 

“Come now, love, I’ve told you to call me Klaus,” he said with liquid charm.

 

“People would talk,” her voice gravely serious.

 

“Let them,” he shrugged.

 

“You may only be passing through, leaving after you get your _inheritance_ in order, but I live with these people,” she told him testily. “And I’ll have to live with any gossip you incite.”

 

“Will you?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Caroline! There you are,” Isobel interrupted their challenging gaze with Tyler Lockwood in tow.

 

The boy looked miserable. For the past month Isobel and Carol had been hinting to their husbands a marriage should be arranged. Neither their husbands nor the would-be-betrothed were in favor of arranging a marriage for the sake of the ladies’ friendship.

 

“Tyler here was just telling me of his astronomy lessons, and I told him you would love to hear all about it. I know how you love the stars,” she said pushing Tyler into a seat across from her, and fluttering off again.

 

“Sir Lockwood,” Caroline smiled awkwardly, “have you met Sir Mikaelson?”

 

Klaus took the seat beside her.

 

“No, it’s a pleasure,” Tyler said boredly.

 

“The pleasure’s mine,” Klaus smiled balefully.

 

The three made awkward conversation, Klaus strangely foreboding. The tension he radiated calmed when Tyler made his excuses.

 

“I’m afraid I must be going as well, sweetheart,” true regret in Klaus’s voice as his older brother signalled him from across the room a short while later.

 

Caroline watched him get up and walk out the door with his siblings. She found herself bereft at his departure. Rebekah shot her a strange, unreadable look over her shoulder before passing through the door.

 

“What was that about?” Elena asked, catching Rebekah’s parting look.

 

“No idea,” Caroline shrugged, turning to her friend. She gasped when she saw the mark on her friend’s neck, “Elena!”

 

“What?” her friend concerned by Caroline’s tone.

 

“Your neck!” she hissed as she adjusted Elena’s shawl to cover the hickey.

 

************************************

 

Klaus lead his siblings and the rest of his crew through the town. The group stalked soundlessly, spreading out to their designated positions. Next to Klaus, his sister grinned viciously. The little empath was amped up on the bloodlust in the air. He nodded at her, and she let out a series of bird calls. Across town, Kol sounded the horn.

 

They sacked the city without mercy. As Klaus made his way into the Saltzman residence alone- he’d given strict instruction to his crew that the home was his to pilfer- he filled his bag with the usual jewels and such. He didn’t find what, or who rather, he was looking for though. Tonight, he would capture his greatest treasure yet. He had every intention of stealing Caroline away from this dreary little town.

 

By now the family would be ensconced in a closet or safe room, if the baron was a paranoid man, hiding for their lives. He methodically went room to room, searching for the family and filching their valuables. It was in the baroness’s room that he found a locked closet just as he’d predicted. He knocked politely.

 

“Hello? Anyone home?” he quarried sarcastically.

 

He heard a sharp inhale from the other side of the door. His little songbird. He felt her sense of betrayal in his bones. She would forgive him in time.

 

“Open this door right now or I’ll burn it down,” he threatened.

 

The door opened seconds later. The baron stood in front of his wife and step daughter, Caroline behind them.

 

“You can take whatever you like but don’t hurt the women,” Alaric bargained.

 

“You’re in no position to negotiate here, mate,” Klaus told him, holding a gun to the man.

 

“Please,” he begged.

 

Klaus marched them out of the closet one by one. When he went back for Caroline however, Saltzman cried out.

 

“Don’t touch her!” and Caroline flinched at the man’s harsh tone.

 

It was a reaction he recognized too well. A pirate menacing about, and the first time the girl shows fear is at her ward raising his voice? Memories of his father flashed beating him flashed through his mind.

 

Klaus ushered her out of the closet, and kept her close. Alaric didn’t take well to that. “Leave her! Take everything in this house. Take the others.” he offered “Just not her!”

 

Isobel and Elena cried and gaped at Alaric Saltzman’s treachery.

 

Klaus turned to Caroline, “What’ll it be love. Are you staying or coming with me?” He held his hand out to her.

 

She took it.

 

************************************

 

The world was burning, and Caroline was dancing in the flames.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave kudos if you liked this story.  
> Comments make my day, so if you have a second please leave a few words.
> 
> I'm really curious how everyone felt about this. I was afraid I might have built the world a little too vaguely? Let me know if you have any notes. Thanks!  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfGzEGoe2E8
> 
> My tumblr updates are sporadic and mostly food, fandom, and quotes. Feel free to come say hi :)  
> https://breakfasttako.tumblr.com/
> 
> November word count: 6,682


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